When robots grieve

The population was ageing. Young people were figuring that careers were more desirable than relationships. But that was no fault of their own. In this day and age, careers served to fund their existence. And relationships just created existence they couldn’t fund.

Once a young person had enough money, they bought themselves a robot. If they were lucky enough to get very rich, they’d have a baby. Biological or adopted, it didn’t matter. The average age of the population was 75 now, so babies were. rare. But they were always destined to live a comfortable enough life.

The robots always remembered the person who raised them so they served the purpose of ensuring that one wasn’t forgotten from the world after they died. It didn’t take long to realise that was all humans really wanted. Why bring a child into a world like this when a robot could take care of you in your old age without feeling burdened?

When robots grieve, it’s not because they feel the emptiness of never being able to see you again. It’s not because they don’t know how they’ll go on living without you. And it’s not because they experience any suffering. When robots grieve, it’s because they are storing a memory forever.